


Sundown

by Shotzette



Category: Laverne & Shirley (TV)
Genre: Aging, Dementia, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-06
Updated: 2020-02-06
Packaged: 2021-02-26 11:03:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22581025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shotzette/pseuds/Shotzette
Relationships: Laverne DeFazio/Lenny Kosnowski
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1





	Sundown

_“By that time, my lungs were bursting for air!”_

Laverne looked up from her television program when she heard a knock at the door. “Always in the  
middle of Sea Hunt,” she grumbled. “Come in!”

An elderly man slowly entered her apartment. He gave her a shy smile. “Hi,” he said. “I, uh, I’m looking  
for Mrs. Babbish.”

Laverne frowned. “Mrs. B. lives two floors up. Apartment 3D, you can’t miss it.”

“I know”, he said. “There, uh, was a sign on the door saying that she was going to be out for a while and  
to drop off any packages in this apartment.” He then held out the large daisy bouquet that he’d hidden  
behind his back.

Laverne smiled. Daisies were her favorite flowers after roses. “Those are beautiful,” she said, as she  
took the bouquet and walked to the kitchen to find a vase. Damnit, she thought as she rifled through  
the sparse cabinet, where was the pretty vase that she got when she filled her tank up with ethyl last  
weekend? She could never find anything these days…

The man cleared his throat as he looked around and nervously shifted his weight from foot to foot. “Uh,  
would you mind if I hung out here for a little while? It’s awfully cold outside.”

Laverne looked out the window at the colorful floral display. Spring flowers were everywhere; how cold  
could it be? Judging by the size of the blooms, Shirley must have planted them months ago. She took a  
longer look at the old man. He was tall and gaunt, with thinning hair and a wrinkled face that had  
certainly laughed a lot over the years. His battered overcoat had definitely seen better days. Pity  
touched her heart. Besides, Sea Hunt was nearly over… “Sure,” she said, forcing a smile as she turned  
off the TV, “Have a seat”.

The man looked surprised and smiled before slowly sitting on the edge of her couch.

Laverne sat there awkwardly, wishing for once that Shirley was there with her awkward and forced small  
talk. As annoying as her roommate could be, the dead silence between her and the old man sitting  
awkwardly on her sofa was worse. “So, how do you know Mrs. Babish?”

“I’m her ex-husband,” he said quickly.

“Amy’s father?” Laverne looked at her guest more closely. This guy looked like he’d seen some hard  
times, but nothing about him screamed angry alcoholic.

A shadow clouded the man’s face. “No,” he replied. “One of the other ones. I’m… Sam.”

“Hi Sam, I’m Laverne. It’s nice to meet you. So… Do you always bring your ex-wives flowers?”

Sam flinched. “No. Just the one. I’ve only been married once.”

“Mrs. Babish doesn’t talk much about her ex-husbands except of course, to let us know that there were  
five of them.”

Sam looked at her awkwardly and began to pick bits of invisible lint off of his coat.  
A thought occurred to Laverne and she looked away in discomfort. “Uh, look, I may be talking out of  
turn here, but you are sitting in my apartment so, I gotta ask… You’re not trying to woo Mrs. Babish  
back are you?”

Sam blinked and managed to look even more uncomfortable than he had moments before. “No. I was  
just passing through town and I wanted to say hello to her.” He cleared this throat gruffly before  
continuing, “I know that she’s moved on with her life and what we had is gone now.”

Laverne nodded, all the while praying that Shirley, or anyone—at this point she’d welcome a visit from  
Big Rosie Greenbaum—would walk through the door and take the burden of being a social hostess off  
her shoulders. “I mean, you seem like a real swell guy, Sam, but she and my Pop are kind of an item  
now. They’ve been seeing each other for over a year.”

“I know. Like I said, I just wanted to drop in and say hi to her. You know: see how she’s doing, let her  
know I’m still there for her…” He coughed and then stood up abruptly. “She’s probably going to be out  
for a long time. I should take my leavings and let you get back to Sea Hunt.”

Laverne frowned. He had been at the other end of the room when she turned off her TV. “How did you  
know I was watching Sea Hunt?”

He blinked. “Uh, it’s always on at this time, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, you’re right. Can’t get enough of Lloyd Bridges…” she said with a grin.

Sam shrugged. “Who can?”

Laverne gestured to the daisies on the kitchen counter. “I can take these up to Mrs. Babish’s when she  
gets home.”

“Why don’t you keep them? I mean, they made you smile. And you look real pretty when you smile” he  
added as his sad eyes momentarily twinkled.

Laverne had a smart mouthed retort at the ready, but something about Sam’s fragile demeanor made  
her keep it to herself. “Thank you.”

“You have a nice day, Laverne.” He turned and walked out the door.

****************************************

Lenny Kosnowski took several deep breaths and leaned against the closed door as he fought back the  
tears. It never gets easier…

A young African-American woman in scrubs was at his side in a flash. “Are you all right Mr. K?”

Lenny shook his head. “I thought I’d be used to it by now.”

Jeanine nodded. “I know. She’s doing a little worse since Mrs. M. isn’t visiting her anymore. She gets  
agitated more easily. Her anxiety is worse so we’ve increased her Zoloft dosage a little.”

Lenny exhaled sharply. “She and Shirl were best friends since first grade. It seemed so wrong to go to  
Shirley’s funeral without her…”

Jeanine nodded. “I know, but like Dr. Patel said, it would have done more harm than good. She  
wouldn’t have understood what was going on, or—"

“Or recognized anyone anyhow,” Lenny finished. “It ain’t like any of us look like we did fifty years ago.”

“No, she wouldn’t,” Jeanine said a she shook her head. “She did seem to like the daisies you bought her  
today.”

Lenny nodded. “I wish I could still give her roses…”

Jeanine nodded sympathetically. “I’m sorry. But the thorns make it too dangerous for her. Thanks for  
understanding and bringing in that plastic vase the other day. We just can’t allow the residents to have  
anything that they could misuse and hurt themselves.”

“She wasn’t always this way, y’know!” The anger that Lenny had held in for far too long bubbled over as  
he stammered over his words. “She used to be a bottle capper at the old Shotz Brewery, right there on  
the conveyor belt and only got cut up once! She was the in Army and jumped out of a plane once, and  
that’s more than I ever did when I served! She- “

“Mr. Kosnowski, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…”

He took a deep, shuddering breath as he tried to calm down. The last thing Laverne needed was him  
losing the fight with his high blood pressure and stroking out. “S’okay, not your fault. It’s just all of  
this…” he gestured around the artificial “small town” façade the Pfister Assisted Living Home had  
created for the fifth-floor occupants, “Laverne was always the strong one; the strongest out of all of us.  
I just never thought that I’d outlive her, and,” he finished with a whisper, “I sort of have.”

“Mr. Kos—” Jeanine began.

Lenny shook his head. “No, I think I’m just going to go back home. It’s been a long day.”

“Would you like Eric to walk back with you? He’ll be back from his break in a few minutes.”

Lenny opened his mouth to say that he was perfectly capable of walking to the independent living end  
of the building until he caught a glimpse of his reflection in one of the few mirrors in the public area of  
the Memory Wing. “Yeah,” he said with a shake in his voice, “I’ll wait for Eric”. He then sat in one of the  
straight-backed chairs by the door and stared at the ticking clock.


End file.
